Calendar of Events

A reception will take place on Friday, April 6, from 5:00-9:00 PM as part of First Friday activities downtown to which the public is invited to meet the artists and view the artwork.

This past August, I had a unique opportunity to watch the total eclipse from a friend’s mountaintop home. We were in an area of totality for over two minutes, and it was an awe-inspiring experience. The common thread in featuring eclipse pictures with wedding photography is all about the storytelling: it was just like a wedding in that, in order to tell the story of the eclipse, I had to capture all of the elements from the phases to Bailey’s beads to the diamond ring to totality. What I am sharing in this show are scenes from some of my downtown weddings through the past 18 years combined with the artistic fun that I had creating the piece titled “Eclipse Descending” and trying my hand at this new “stellar” art.

Eric Thompson has been a musician and photographer in the Knoxville area for over 20 years. He was described by his mentor and instructor in the 1990’s as being a natural. His sense of detail and perceptiveness to his surroundings allows him to capture the physical, emotional and reactive responses of his subjects in real time. He also has a photo-journalistic nature and loves to chronicle any momentous occasion in a way that expresses a complete story. For more information, please visit www.photographybyerick.com.

On display at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, in downtown Knoxville. Exhibition hours are Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Information: (865) 523-7543 or www.knoxalliance.com.

A reception will take place on Friday, April 6, from 5:00-9:00 PM as part of First Friday activities downtown to which the public is invited to meet the artists and view the artwork.

Recent research has demonstrated definitively that Parkinson’s Disease, along with dopamine-based medication is actually causing some people to be more creative. Many people report that before being diagnosed with the disease they had not engaged in any particular creative activity, and after the onset of the disease, they took up creative activities such as poetry, painting, and photography, while those who were already creative have reported a surge in creative output. The research has concluded that when involved in an intense creative activity, the brain produces more dopamine and the symptoms of the disease are reduced.

This exhibition will feature the work of several individuals who have experienced this phenomenon. Most of these participants are not professional artists. The value of their work is the pleasure and relief they garner from the creative experience. The work to be displayed includes painting, photography, poetry, furniture making and more. The displays are designed as a traveling show and will be displayed in the future in locations such as hospital lobbies. The project is designed by Architect David Denton and sponsored by Dr. Michele Brewer, MD.

On display at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, in downtown Knoxville. Exhibition hours are Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Information: (865) 523-7543 or www.knoxalliance.com.

Sculptures created by nine University of Tennessee art students that incorporate materials provided by steel recycler Gerdau will be on display April 5-22 at the Knoxville Convention Center on its Clinch Concourse. “The Art of Recycling” sculpture exhibition celebrates April’s National Recycling Month and is a partnership among Gerdau, Dogwood Arts and the University of Tennessee Sculpture Program. The artworks will be unveiled in a public ceremony Thursday, April 5, at 10 a.m.

In January, Gerdau’s Knoxville steel mill opened its scrapyard to the students, along with John Powers, UT associate professor of sculpture and time-based art. The students selected 3,540 pounds of discarded metal and steel, provided free of charge by Gerdau, and gained inspiration for new works of art. “Every day, Gerdau creates new steel from discarded scrap metal, preparing it for use in our cities’ infrastructures and keeping it from landfills,” said Johnny Miller, vice president and general manager of Gerdau’s steel mill in Knoxville. “This art project provides an excellent opportunity to support these student sculptors, celebrate National Recycling Month and educate the public about how ‘green’ steel manufacturing really is.”

This marks the fourth year the partnership has culminated in a public art exhibition, and the Knoxville Convention Center remains an enthusiastic supporter of the project. Gerdau has partnered with Dogwood Arts for the past eight years and appreciates the opportunity to provide the students with both raw materials and artistic inspiration. Participating UT students include Reid Arowood, Mary Badillo, Amanda Beasley, Thomas Colabella, Zachary Edwards, Shannon Frisco, Troy Houk, Michaela Leib and Dylan Tan.

Questions: 865-544-0088 ext. 109 or http://www.moxleycarmichael.com

"Foot Traffic", featuring new xerography work by Artist R.L. Gibson, opens at The Tomato Head in Knoxville on April 2 and runs through May 6th. The Tomato Head is located at 12 Market Square, Knoxville, TN.

"For the past few months, I have been working on a "Traffic" series which consists of delicate xerography transfers on pigment-stained wood, including transfers of maps, surveys, blueprints and schematics of civil engineering projects that span a wide range of built environments (e.g. streets, bridges, parks & plazas). The pigment stains are chosen to connect the transfers to their literal locations while the quiet over-painting echoes the universal details of those environments."

"Foot Traffic" is an extension of the Traffic series that concentrates on physical footsteps as opposed to driving patterns that underlie the patterns of common human behavior. Think of it as"Cha, Cha, Cha" instead of "Honk, Honk". To see more work by R.L. Gibson, visit http://RLGibson.com/

Dogwood Arts Art In Public Places - Temporary Sculpture Exhibition

Art in Public Places is a large-scale outdoor sculpture program showcased throughout Knoxville, Oak Ridge, and Alcoa, Tennessee. The annual rotating installation is one of many Dogwood Arts programs focused on providing access to the arts for everyone, promoting awareness of the strong visual arts community thriving in our region, and creating a vibrant and inspiring environment for residents and visitors to experience. Over the past eleven years, Dogwood Arts has curated and installed over 220 works of art, and the Art In Public Places program has gained national recognition as a platform for world-class artists. This year’s ambitious collection of sculptures created by artists from across the nation has been selected by Director of the Zuckerman Museum of Art, Justin Rabideau.

Dogwood Arts, 123 W. Jackson Ave, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information: 865-637-4561, www.dogwoodarts.com

Pick Your Poison examines how mind-altering drugs have been used throughout the history of America.

Featuring over forty medicines, advertisements, historic and popular culture documents and books, video footage, and paraphernalia, the exhibition explores why some drugs remain socially acceptable, while others are outlawed because of their toxic, and intoxicating, characteristics.

These classifications have shifted at different times in history because of social and historical factors, and will continue to change. The exhibition explores some of the factors that have shaped the changing definition of some of our most potent drugs––alcohol, tobacco, opium, cocaine, and marijuana––from medical miracle to social menace.

McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture, 1327 Circle Park Dr on the UT campus, Knoxville, TN 37996. Hours: Monday-Saturday, 9AM-5PM, Sunday, 1-5PM. Information: 865-974-2144, http://mcclungmuseum.utk.edu

GALLERY HOURS Monday - Friday, 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM in THE MURIEL S. MAYFIELD GALLERY IN REECE HALL TN Wesleyan Campus, 216 North Jackson Street

Heather Hartman is not a native Tennesseean, but when her family moved to Tennessee, she was deeply impacted by the atmosphere, weather, and constantly changing skies in her new home. Hartman lives and works in Knoxville, Tennessee where she is a member of the Vacuum Shop Studios Artist Collaborative. Hartman is an Adjunct Instructor of Art at Carson-Newman University and Walters State Community College.Her work has been featured in various solo and group shows throughout the country, as well as several publications.

https://www.facebook.com/events/310874436106136/

Closing Reception: April 25, 5:30-7pm

In the Geoffrey A. Wolpert Gallery
Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, 556 Parkway, Gatlinburg, TN 37738. Information: 865-436-5860, www.arrowmont.org

Dragon Lights, Knoxville’s first-ever Chinese lantern festival, will take place at Chilhowee Park and Exposition Center and will be open every night from 5:30pm until 10:00pm.

Featuring over 40 larger-than-life lantern displays, Dragon Lights is the largest Chinese lantern festival in the Eastern Unites States. Thousands of sculptural and light components make this event a true visual treat. Dozens of Chinese artisans travel the world to keep this century-old tradition alive, and they will be constructing the displays on site at Chilhowee as the festival draws near. Dragon Lights also will feature performances by Chinese acrobats and Chinese folk art demonstrations, as well as children's activities.

Don't miss this unique experience. Tickets ($16 per adult, or $10 for children) are on sale now. Call Ticketmaster at 1-800-745-3000 or stop by the Civic Coliseum Box Office. (Group tickets for 15 or more are only available at the Coliseum Box Office, 865-215-8999.) http://www.chilhoweepark.org/dragon-lights-festival/

Please join us for the reception on Saturday, April 7th in the Blain Gallery for light refreshments.

Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts announces Alternative Bodies, a group exhibition showcasing new work by the 2017-2018 Arrowmont Artists-in-Residence: Xia Zhang, Paige Ward, Elyse-Krista Mische, Emily Culver, and Max Adrian. In vulnerable ways, these artists touch on a variety of topics related to the body such as queerness, sexuality, faith, race, and death. These artists are playful and inventive with their processes in order to start conversations that may otherwise be difficult to digest.

Works such as those by Zhang, Culver, and Adrian focus on matters of flesh and bone: what it means to touch bodies, to express ourselves through our bodies and the objects we interact with, to be celebrated, stigmatized, or separated because of our bodies. Tactility is a key element for these works which span a breadth of materials like faux-fur, orange peels, and rubber. Works by Mische and Ward, on the other hand, consider spiritual existences in pursuit of greater understanding of our mortality and what lies in wait beyond the body. Objects like concrete pillows and monumental papier-mâché vessels reference the body through its absence. Metaphors for faith and self-preservation speak to multiple possibilities of seeking and finding comfort.

Collectively, all five artists encourage the viewer to contemplate other perspectives and expressions of humanness at a time when the world feels more divided than unified. Alternative Bodies aspires to a level of empathy and compassion for the hopes, hardships, and successes we all have within our physical forms.

The Artists-in-Residence Program is an 11-month program which provides early career, self-directed artists time, space and support to experiment and develop a new body of work in a creative community environment. Each year, five artists of different media are selected for the eleven-month program, which begins mid-June and continues through late May of the following year. Participants receive exhibition opportunities, teaching experience, professional development and a private studio.

In the Sandra J. Blain Gallery, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, 556 Parkway, Gatlinburg, TN 37738. Information: 865-436-5860, www.arrowmont.org

The exhibition will open on March 10 from 7 to 9 pm with a gallery talk at 6:30

Featuring local artists whose work is composed of reused or re-imagined materials, ephemera, or found objects.

Oak Ridge Art Center, 201 Badger Avenue, Oak Ridge, TN 37830. Hours: Tu-F 9-5, Sa-M 1-4. Information: 865-482-1441, www.oakridgeartcenter.org

The March/April 2018 Farragut Arts Council Featured Artist is painter William "Dan" DeFord. His exhibit focuses on the mountains and local culture of East Tennessee, where he grew up. DeFord's grandparents were Concord natives. He pursued art from a young age, and some of his childhood drawings are included in the exhibit.

He went on to attend college in Seattle, Wash., and Southern California, graduating with degrees in electrical engineering, math and physics. He continued to paint, and studied and worked with local artists in Tennessee, California and North Carolina. He returned to East Tennessee with his family in 1971.

DeFord's artwork features subjects from the 1930s to present in oil, watercolor and mixed media.

Each month, the work of an artist or group of artists is featured in specially-designed cases on the second floor of the rotunda in Farragut Town Hall. For more information about this exhibit or to access a Featured Artist application, email ParksandRecInfo@townoffarragut.org, call 966-7057 or visit townoffarragut.org/artsandculture.

Town of Farragut, 11408 Municipal Center Drive, Farragut, TN 37934